Pocahontas : who was she?

The name which I had heard many times and often wondered why is such a strange name catching up in many speeches n movies. But never did I make a sincere effort to indulge in any kind of research quenching my curiosity. So it remained as mythical name. Yesterday I was searching about the Roanoke Island and the mystery of Virginia Dare, then I stumbled upon a feature on Powhatan tribe and then to Pocahontas. Surprisingly, for me, Pocahontas turned out to be made of real blood and flesh, and not mythical/imaginary.



She was the dear daughter of a Powhatan chief, named Wahunsunacock, born around 1595, who said to have played a major role in the destruction of Roanoke Island. Converted herself to Christianity and married an English man later. The marriage was looked upon because of the rising tension between tribes and Colonists. Another way, as the single person for which the settlers and Indians made peace with each other for some years or peace was the ransom settlers/English men received for the captivity of Pocahontas.

History of Colonization never gives us any pictures where the natives are treated with equality or a hand of friendship was offered except in the initial stages.If you see from the point of view of the “Old World”; Pocahontas is an Indian who had to be with the settlers/colonists and who saw her tribe being driven away from their homeland. She might have been treated as the Indian who assisted Colonists. But in return, had been banished from her tribe, became the Indian Captive for which colonists received peace in return until them themselves decided to break it. I think, Pocahontas can be seen as neither an iconic figure nor a hero when her actions and the fate of her tribe were considered at a later point of time. She was a kind, peaceful woman, an ordinary woman, who was short-lived, but lived long enough to witness the colonization and distress of the Powhatan tribe. As per the records I read online, it gives me little information to raise Pocahontas to a hero. Whether she was a really “knight in shining armour” or not, well, I think it will need a research beyond the history books!!



Some history for you: excerpt from wiki J



Pocahontas’ name reached the outer world when a Colonist called John Smith was taken captive by the Powhatan Tribe in 1607. As per Smith’s account, Pocahontas was the “ten”ish year old girl who saved him from death in the hands of the tribes men. She, along with Smith provided food for the settlers in James Town who were in a difficult situation due to the lack of food. She was said to have shared a warm relationship with the settlers of James Town, a settler’s colony.

Then Smith returns of Britain said to be after having suffered from a gun powder explosion in 1609. Pocahontas was told that Smith was dead.

Then her life took a different turn when one of her own men, traded her to the colonists in 1611-12.Colonists believed that her captivity can yield the chief to release captivated colonists by the tribe and force him to return the weapons said to have taken by the Powhatans. This did not work very well, but someway the chief and settlers maintained peace among themselves. She was under captivity, but said to have been treated nicely by the settlers. Later she converted into Christianity and married a John Rolfe in 1614, a tobacco farmer. But slowly there were enough fights between Indians and settlers and a major war where the British killed many and destroyed the homes of Indians.

Pocahontas traveled to England in 1616, with her husband and new born son, Thomas. I heard two different purposes for the trip, one was to bring peace between her people and colonists through King James, and another was for a financial purpose for her husband. Anyways, Pocahontas met with the King and the Queen. The greatest surprise happened when she got to know about Smith being alive and she met with him only once in early 1617. They were coming back to Virginia in March 1617; she was died on the way, much before the ship crossed Thames, due to Tuberculosis or pneumonia at the age of 22.



Pocahontas is always remembered as the bridge between Indians and Colonists or as wikipedia says “for assisting the settlers of Jamestown” .

Happy Independence Day!!

Today, I want to write a lot about my country...our country India..
I am not a proclaimed patriotic kind...But I truly am Proud to be an Indian..
I love the country who gave birth to heroes and always welcomed visitors..Then slowly made them part of it just by love...I love the country who nourished a culture from centuries and centuries...A culture which is formed from the true goodies of the world, rooted in eternal peace, selflessness, simplicity and truth..The land which gave birth to a Mahatma in the kaliyug who became the epitome of truth...I bow towards the spirit n souls of the hundreds of thousands who were sacrificed in the struggle for Independence..I bow towards the country which is one of its kind ...My land, my mother where language is not a barrier, color is not a barrier, religion is not a barrier..This is my country...I would like to born here again and again...Happy Independence Day!!

yatra

ഓര്‍മ്മതന്‍ താളുകള്‍ പിന്നെയും മറിയുന്നു
ഭൂതകാലത്തിലേക്ക് അവസാനമായി ഒരു എത്തിനോട്ടം
സ്നേഹം  നിറം പകര്‍ന്ന ഭൂതകാലം
ദുഖത്തിന്‍ വേരുകളുള്ള ഭൂതകാലം

മനസ്സ് ചോദിക്കുന്നു പിന്നെയും 
' ഒന്നുകൂടി പിന്നിട്ട വഴികളിലേക്ക് ?'
പിന്നെ ഒരു നെടുവീര്‍പ്പോടെ മന്ത്രിക്കുന്നു
ഒരിക്കല്‍ കൂടി സ്വന്തം ഉറപ്പു വരുത്തുന്നു

പഥികന് പിന്നിട്ട വഴികളില്ല !
പിന്നിടാനുള്ള വഴികളെ ഉള്ളു
കാഷായത്തിനു പുനര്‍ജനിയെ ഉള്ളു 
പിന്നിട്ട ജന്മത്തിലെ നീക്കുപോക്കുകളില്ല   
നിനക്കാ   ജന്മം സമാപ്തം !!!

A thought...

Truth, the bitterest of life ??

Some, you dont want to believe..so you deny
Some, you mask them behind beautifully clad lies
Some, are ignored since they are too true

May be thats why you never find a 100% truthful person anywhere.

today-in news

Today 2 headings frm Google news caught my attention -  one was Raj Thackeray supporting Udhav Thackeray blames "migrants" for malaria outbreak in Mumbai , for crowding the hospitals..
Other One was about Sachin, the God of Cricket's statement - "Expectations are god's gift, not burden: Tendulkar "
Somebody is trying to divide the nation...somebody telling my nation is my strength and my nation's expectations are God's gift to me...

Whom to say hats off to ... well u know ...

Aug 01..Friendship day

I met my college friends after a long long time...it seemed like we just got out of the college yesterday...We still love some/most of the parts of our college life..whether it was PVU's statistics class( where we learnt only to eat silently and pass chits) or sreeja miss's math lessons ( Where we used to feel her love for us...n her love for maths :P )..Then long never ending series of curses we used to hear on our every point of our family tree...we hated everything when we were there..But,now if I think we had some diff experiences,living in an ashram and in a professional college run by brahmacharis where they tought control over mind..where culture was the most talked abt stuff..where we succeeded stress after being pushed over the limits all the time.. We just travelled in time today..
 Gosh,,,it was fun...To revive the memories.. Heart just yearnt for just feeling those classrooms and lectures again!!
PS: we were 6 ..me rasna jisha, vaisu, aadi n ranjesh